


One track mind, one track heart

by hollowboness



Series: soulmate au [3]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, First Kiss, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Being an Idiot, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Has Feelings, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia is Bad at Feelings, Geraskier Week, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Soulmates, Soulmates AU, Wholesome, jaskier is oblivious, soulmates colour AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22772989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollowboness/pseuds/hollowboness
Summary: When Jaskier nearly gets assaulted, but so is the life of a bard (at least, so he says)
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: soulmate au [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633690
Comments: 10
Kudos: 510





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if I need to add any TWs but this guy tries to make advances on Jaskier and he is not enjoying it at all (it gets resolved before it gets too far though)
> 
> un-betaed, we die like men y'all
> 
> title from Oh No! by Marina and the Diamonds

Jaskier awoke to Geralt leaving. It wasn’t unexpected, despite Geralt’s constant reassurance that he wouldn’t leave, Jaskier couldn’t help but feel like he was lying. After all, it seemed that he was nothing more than a burden, especially with his still very broken leg.

Luckily the town nearest to Lenrow had a proper healer. Jaskier’s leg got properly set, but the healer advised him not to put too much strain on it for at least 2 weeks if it was to heal properly. 2 weeks. That was a lot of time, for both of them. Geralt was always looking for contracts, and it’s hard to find more than one contract in a town, two if you’re lucky. Jaskier was the same, though he didn’t give a rats ass about the contracts, he liked to travel.

When Jaskier sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he heard Geralt curse under his breath. He got a flash of deja-vu as he remembered the day Geralt tried to leave him in Lenrow.

“Leaving, are you?” he couldn’t stop the bitterness from seeping into his voice.

Geralt didn’t speak, nor did he turn to face the bard. That spoke volumes.

“Again? Really?”

“You need time to heal!” 

“Geralt, I’m fine, I can walk just fine!”

“It’s not about walking, Jaskier. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Jesus not this again. I won’t get hurt. Besides, I’m not nearly as fragile as you think. I may not look as beefy as you, but I can hold my ground.”

“Fine, you can come with me.” for someone who supposedly didn’t have feelings, Geralt seemed awfully emotional (at least compared to his usual complete blank slate).

***

Travelling was harder than he’d expected. Though Geralt was kind enough to let him ride roach most of the time (“you need to walk on it, that way it will get stronger” he’d say when he made Jaskier walk) his leg still frequently ached. Not only that but travelling properly with Geralt again, it made him feel things.

Yes, the expected “get in my pants” way but other ways as well. He was happy to be travelling with Geralt again, he’d missed this, their light banter and always having someone to keep him safe and critique his writing. But at the same time, he was sad. By now, he was certain their bond was one-sided, that he was doomed to forever love a man who would only see in black and white. Travelling with said man made him sad, it served as a reminder of just how cruel fate could be.

***

They came to a bustling town. It was surprisingly full for its size but then again, people flocked to towns for spring markets. Off the coin from the oni contract, they were able to afford food and lodge at a decent tavern.

Geralt usually stretched his coin for a long as he could, never sure of when he’d get another contract. Jaskier knew this especially well, as he was forced to quickly drop his love of the finer things in life, so when Geralt bought them a room when the weather was fine enough to sleep outside, and he knew prices would likely be raised due to the ongoing market, well, needless to say, Jaskier was shocked.

That night, Jaskier decided to perform in the tavern. Geralt was adverse, saying it was too full, that he’d hurt his leg but the bard, ever the performer, insisted.

“The show must go on, Geralt! I assure you, I’ll be fine. If it really bothers you, watch to make sure nothing goes awry.”

Geralt hmmed and stalked down to the main portion of the tavern as Jaskier made sure his clothes were in order. He grabbed his lute and headed downstairs. He ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over his feet to get to the small stage. He knew he’d be among the crowd as he performed but it was best to start on stage.

***

He stood on the small raised platform, waiting for the audience to quiet down. It didn’t take too long as people quickly noticed him. Once the tavern quieted down, he began to speak,

“Hello, all!” a small cheer erupted from the crowd “I am Jaskier, the renowned bard!” the crowd cheered even louder at this, only fueling his ego, “thank you, thank you all. Now I suppose I should start singing.” he chuckled and began to play the opening notes to Toss A Coin To Your Witcher. Though Geralt said he hated it, it often earned them good coin and got the crowd engaged right away. He played old songs that were known across the lands, not his own but the way his voice controlled the notes you might think they were. He played songs of his own, new ones, of recent adventures or imagined but beautiful women (and men). popular ones, well known to the point of the whole tavern raucously singing along, and though it didn’t necessarily sound good, it raised spirits.

The whole time, Geralt had been keeping a close eye on him. He could feel the witcher watch him as he danced through the tavern. It had put a great strain on his leg but the show must go on.

When he was making rounds through tables and around barmaids, singing a few particularly raunchy songs, he noticed a man staring at him. Not his witcher but instead a man who was about as tall, but nowhere near as strong, with short brown hair that was beginning to grey at the temples. The man was eyeing him hungrily but in a way that made Jaskier feel just a bit too much like something being hunted.

As Jaskier finished his last songs, walking around the tables and thanking the patrons for what coin they tossed his way, he avoided the table the man was at. As he walked towards the small washroom at the back of the tavern he noticed out of the corner of his eye, someone following him. Not too long after noticing this, he felt a large hand on his shoulder as someone spun him around and pushed his back to a wall.

It was the man from earlier, now caging Jaskier in, a hand on either side of his head, leaning close into the bard’s personal space. His breath reeked of alcohol as he spoke.

“I’m sure I can make you sing,” he said, raising an eyebrow at the bard

Jaskier felt his face pale, his stomach dropped and he felt nauseous. He didn’t mind a tumble in the sheets with a man, sometimes even preferring it to a woman but something about this specific man made him sick to his stomach. He looked around nervously, desperately searching for an out. Where was his witcher?

“I know you’d love that wouldn’t you?” the man leaned even closer, his mouth beside Jaskier’s ear, hot breath brushing against his neck. He felt violated and disgusted as the man moved his hand down to Jaskier’s waist. He didn’t know why, but he felt paralyzed, unable to free himself from this man’s revolting grasp.

“Bet you’d love me behind you, with my cock up your arse, hm? Such a pretty boy, and such a lovely voice, I’m sure you’d just love to be my plaything,”

His lips moved to Jaskier’s neck, hot and slimy. This snapped the bard out of his frozen trance. He pushed the man off of him, about to speak before the man wrapped a hand around his throat,

“Right now, behave or I’ll have to make you.” His voice rose.

As Jaskier clawed at the man’s hand, Geralt finally showed up, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. His grip loosened and Jaskier was able to scramble away, towards his witcher.

“What’s this?” Geralt asked, directing the question at the man.

He was clearly very intoxicated as the angry witcher didn’t seem to scare him at all.

“Well, this little thing,” he gestured to Jaskier, who made a noise of indignation, “Would make a nice plaything. You heard him sing, I’m sure he’d take a cock well.”

Geralt didn’t respond. He simply began to drag the man out of the tavern. He threw him into the mud outside the door, and when he stood to go back inside, Geralt barred the door with his hulking form.

“Don’t. Or there will be more consequences than getting thrown in the mud.” His tone didn’t leave room for argument, and the man scampered away.

When he gently herded Jaskier upstairs, the bard was too shaken to protest.

***

The door shut behind them and Geralt sat beside Jaskier on one of the beds. Jaskier jumped when he felt the hand on his shoulder but shook his head quickly when it was withdrawn.

“... Are you ok?” Geralt asked carefully

“I am, or,” he sighed “I will be.”

“Well, how are you… now?”

“Shaken.”

“But, you’re sure you’ll be ok”

“Yes Geralt, I appreciate the worry but I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Geralt,” He turned to face his witcher “I’m not as fragile as you think, I’m not a delicate little lark, I could’ve dealt with him on my own.”

Geralt’s face contorted with what looked like worry and confusion, “how do you know that?”

Jaskier sighed tiredly, “I’ve dealt with people like him. It’s part of being a bard, I suppose.”

“It shouldn’t be. I-” he huffed angrily “I should’ve been watching more closely, so I could’ve stopped him”

“It’s ok Geralt like I said, It’s part of being a bard.”

“It shouldn’t be!”

“Many things are ways they shouldn’t, I suppose you of all people would know that.” he wistfully thought about the irony of that statement, of the one-sided soulbond between them, how it shouldn’t be and how Geralt would never know of it.

***

They left town the next day. Though Jaskier was fine with stay, Geralt insisted, and so on they went.


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geralt's overprotectiveness takes its toll on him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of canon typical violence and mild-ish gore in this one

They’d been on the road for nearly a week now, and no matter how many times Jaskier told Geralt that he wasn’t fragile, Geralt still insisted on protecting him.

He’d practically never sleep, opting to stay at the fire, keeping an eye out for lurking danger, and no matter how many times Jaskier insisted that it was ridiculous and he’d be better at protecting them both if he slept, Geralt was unmovable. While Jaskier appreciated the level of care coming from Geralt (despite how unusual it was), It seemed awfully unnecessary, especially considering they’d left the town where this incident had occurred.

Geralt’s lack of sleep was visibly affecting him, it worried Jaskier but there was little he could do. Of course, he did his best to help out, offering to pack the camp up or to cook the food that Geralt caught or to brush and feed Roach. Geralt rarely let him do any of this, insisting he didn’t need help.

***

Jaskier only realized how bad it was when one night he awoke to a horrible yelping sound.

He looked out the tent and saw Geralt fighting a small pack of wolves. To the untrained eye, his fighting would seem amazing, he was fending off a pack of half a dozen wolves and was so far uninjured. To Jaskier though, who had seen Geralt fight a million and one different beasts, he could tell something was wrong. The witcher should’ve been able to take on the wolves easily, having already killed them by the time Jaskier awoke, but his fighting seemed sloppy.

He was just a few seconds too slow, and that’s what really worried Jaskier. One of the wolves lunged at him and as he turned to slice it down, another jumped and bit deep into his thigh. Jaskier winced and Geralt yelled out before slicing that one down too.

Once the last wolf was killed, Jaskier rushed out of the tent, just as Geralt sat down by the fire, placing his sword down and wincing in pain as blood poured from the wound on his leg.

“Geralt! Are you ok?” he knew it was stupid but he asked anyway.

Geralt drew a dagger from his belt and cut the fabric away from his bloodied skin. He examined the bite for a few seconds before looking up at Jaskier

“Get the first aid equipment, Jaskier.”

He complied with Geralt’s wishes and quickly returned with a small metal box in hand. When the witcher reached for it, he batted his hands away,

“Let me, you know it’s always easier when someone else does it”

Geralt grunted but let Jaskier keep the kit.

Jaskier began to get the materials ready, wetting a small cloth with a waterskin before beginning to gently clean Geralt’s wound.

“I can’t believe it. You oaf. I told you that you needed sleep, and you didn’t listen, well now look at what you’ve done. And I know it’s not exactly your fault, but it definitely is and of all things, wolves? Really Geralt? You must see now how badly this lack of sleep is affecting you!”

He put the cloth down and grabbed a small curved needle and some strong thread.

“This will hurt, but I have to. Sorry, Geralt.”

The witcher just nodded and hmmed, as if to say it was fine.

As the needle entered his skin he hissed out in pain,

“Do you want me to grab you a Swallow? Or some wine?” Jaskier asked, stopping his ministrations to look up at Geralt sincerely.

“I’ll be fine, bard, just keep going,” He said, and so the bard did, rambling away as he did so.

“I honestly can’t believe you Geralt. You can’t be so protective of me then go and do this. Honestly, you need to sleep. I promise I’ll be fine. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Geralt. I’m not some delicate flower, I can stand my ground. I hope this time it will stick in that thick skull of yours.” 

By now the stitching of the wound was nearly done, and Geralt’s hands were gripping the edge of the log he sat on hard enough to splinter wood.

“I mean you of all people should know how important sleep is. Well, how important it is for your health. They must teach you something of health at that school witchers go to, didn’t they? No matter. And I know you’re not the smartest but seriously Geralt. I’d have hoped my soulmate would be smarter, I mean-” He trailed off, realizing what he said. Great, he’d kept it a secret for more than 3 years and it just had to slip out now of all times.

“I mean, shit. Oh god. Ok, hold on.” Jaskier quickly finished stitching up the bite and wiped it over with water again before wrapping some thick gauze around Geralt’s leg.

A blush grew on his features and he began to pick at the hem of his simple night-shirt, “Alright, fuck. I-” he sat back on his haunches in the dirt, taking a moment to think, “I didn’t mean for you to know? It’s not that I don’t like you? I mean, of course, I like you you’re my soulmate, God um. Well, you didn’t do anything for all those years so I figured that It was one-sided?”

As he spoke, Geralt silently watched him, face emotionless as Jaskier continued to ramble. His head was cocked slightly to the side and the lack of response was beginning to really worry Jaskier.

“Ok look. I- god ok, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, to begin with. But I promise I won’t do anything about it. That is if you don’t want me doing anything about it. What am I saying? Of course, you don’t want me doing anything about it, why would you? Ok. I promise I’ll be gone by the m-”

“Jaskier.” 

The bard went quiet, almost immediately, looking up at the witcher with a mix of fear and hope in his eyes,

“The- our bond is not one-sided.”

Jaskier’s eyes lit up.

“It’s not? Wait, it’s not? You, Geralt of Rivia, The White Wolf, are my soulmate?”

“yes.”

“And you kept it hidden for all those years?”

The witcher looked away in shame,

“...yes.”

“Why?” 

Jaskier’s voice wasn’t angry, It wasn’t even confused. It sounded hurt.

Geralt still refused to look at him, “I didn’t want to hurt you…”

“Geralt you, absolute idiot. How many times must I say? You will not hurt me! I am nowhere near as delicate as you believe me to be.”

“I couldn’t risk it. If my world went back to black and white, I wouldn’t be able to bear myself.”

“Oh, Geralt.” He shuffled closer, now resting his hands on either of Geralt’s shoulders, his face close to the other man’s, “I promise you, I’ll be safe, as long as I am with you.”

“Do you promise, little lark?” he asked, waiting on bated breath

“With all my being.” the emotion his voice carried was intense, and the two stayed like that for a beat, looking into each other’s eyes, before Geralt reached out, and gently cupped Jaskier’s face.

If you were to ask Jaskier why he did it, there would be no answer, but when he leaned in and gently pressed his lips against Geralt’s, He felt something that had been restless since he met the witcher finally settled.

When he pulled away Geralt pulled him right back and they kissed again, and again, and again. Just small, chaste kisses, but neither of them wanted to stop. They were both full giddy happiness and heavy sleep when they trudged back to bed.

The two men lay beside each other, too tired for words, simply basking in each other's presence and knowing that a long conversation awaited them tomorrow, one they were both too tired to have then.

That night, the two of them slept with their limbs entangled. Jaskier’s head was tucked against Geralt’s chest and he fell asleep to the steady, slow beat of his witchers heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god finally
> 
> also: come yell at me on Tumblr if you so please https://hollow-boness.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy!


End file.
